DOCSLIB.ORG

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Proposed the Establishment of a Security, Economic and Socio‐Cultural Community by the Year 2020

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Proposed the Establishment of a Security, Economic and Socio‐Cultural Community by the Year 2020 1 Challenges and Opportunities in the Pursuit of Comprehensive Integration Christopher B. Roberts The River ‘Salween’ Photograph by Author 2 Abstract In October 2003, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) proposed the establishment of a security, economic and socio‐cultural community by the year 2020. Given that initiators of the ASEAN proposal were informed by the scholarly literature on the concept of a ‘security community’, this dissertation develops and then tests the concept in relation to the ASEAN states. Here, the concept of a ‘security community’ is understood as ‘a transnational grouping of two or more states whose sovereignty is increasingly amalgamated and whose people maintain dependable expectations of peaceful change’. The application of the ‘security community framework’ developed in this study is necessary to provide a conceptual basis for critically assessing the major factors that could potentially impede ASEAN’s evolution towards a security community. For the purpose of such an assessment, the study provides a detailed investigation of the most significant historical issues and contemporary security challenges that inform the nature of inter‐state relations in Southeast Asia. As a complement to this approach, the dissertation incorporates the analysis of data obtained from extensive fieldwork in all ten of the ASEAN states involving over 100 in‐depth interviews and two survey designs (one at the elite level and another at the communal level) involving 919 participants. While the survey work, especially at the communal level, is best considered a pilot study and the results are therefore to be considered as indicative, the research nevertheless represents the first empirical assessment of regional perceptions of trust, intra‐mural relations, security, economic integration, and liberalisation and of a broad range of other factors relevant to the analysis. The interview data has also been invaluable in uncovering previously unpublished information and in contextualising the analysis. Despite a considerable strengthening of the region’s security architecture since ASEAN’s formation, the ten chapters in the study reveal that the Association has a long way to travel before it will satisfy the defining criteria of a security community. The region lacks a common sense of community and consequently the level of trust between the Southeast Asian states remains problematic. The political elite continue to engage in episodes of competitive behaviour, have been unable to resolve territorial disputes, and thus the continued potential for armed conflict undermines the 3 prospect for ‘dependable expectations of peaceful change’. Therefore, ASEAN’s evolution towards the status of a security community, if it proceeds further, will likely occur over the course of many decades rather than by ASEAN’s current goal of 2015. 4 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................... 4 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 11 CHAPTER II. THE CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR A SOUTHEAST ASIAN SECURITY COMMUNITY .............. 49 CHAPTER III. DEVELOPING A DEFENDABLE FRAMEWORK: THE PROCESSES BEHIND THE EMERGENCE OF A SECURITY COMMUNITY .............................................................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER IV. TURBULENT HISTORIES: THE RISE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE SEARCH FOR REGIONAL ORDER .................................................................................................................................................................133 CHAPTER V. ASEAN’S HISTORICAL RECORD: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE EARLY SEARCH FOR COOPERATION AND A MODUS VIVENDI ....................................................................................................180 CHAPTER VI. THE MYANMAR MEMBERSHIP CRISIS: FURTHER TESTS TO ELITE COHESION AND THE ASEAN WAY .........................................................................................................................................................233 CHAPTER VII. CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES: ASEAN, A FRAGILE INSTITUTION OR A STABLE FOUNDATION? .................................................................................................................................................................265 CHAPTER VIII. CONTEMPORARY EVALUATIONS: INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS, STATE BEHAVIOUR, AND REGIONAL PERCEPTIONS ...........................................................................................................................309 CHAPTER IX. CONTINUED VOLATILITY: MYANMAR AND THE CHALLENGE OF DOMESTIC DISORDER ............370 CHAPTER X. ASEAN’S SECURITY COMMUNITY PROJECT: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECTS ..............................429 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................................444 5 Analytical Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................... 4 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 11 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 15 THE RISE OF, AND LITERATURE ON, THE CONCEPT OF A SECURITY COMMUNITY ....................................................... 15 THE NEO‐KANTIANS AND THE DEMOCRATIC SECURITY COMMUNITY ..................................................................... 22 SECURITY COMMUNITIES AND OTHER MULTILATERAL SECURITY FRAMEWORKS IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ............... 25 THE CONTRASTING CHARACTERISATIONS OF ASEAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIA’S SECURITY ARCHITECTURE ....................... 29 APPROACH OF THE DISSERTATION AND LIMITATIONS TO THE RESEARCH ............................................... 37 FIELDWORK AND IN‐DEPTH INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................... 39 ELITE AND COMMUNAL LEVEL SURVEYS ........................................................................................................... 40 FURTHER LIMITATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS TO THE RESEARCH .......................................................................... 43 CHAPTER STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER II. THE CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR A SOUTHEAST ASIAN SECURITY COMMUNITY .............. 49 PART A: THE CONCEPTUAL PILLARS TO A SECURITY COMMUNITY ........................................................... 50 SECURITY COMMUNITIES: PLURALISTIC, AMALGAMATED, OR INTEGRATED? ............................................................ 51 SECURITY ................................................................................................................................................... 53 COMMUNITY .............................................................................................................................................. 64 INTEGRATION ............................................................................................................................................. 69 DEPENDABLE EXPECTATIONS OF PEACEFUL CHANGE ........................................................................................... 72 PART B: THE POSSIBILITY OF STABLE PEACE AND THE INTEGRATIVE STRUCTURES BEHIND A SECURITY COMMUNITY ......................................................................................................................................... 76 NATURE OR NURTURE – ELITES AND STATE ACTORS UNDER ANARCHY ................................................................... 76 THE TIERS OF INTEGRATION – FROM INTEGRATIVE PROCESSES TO INTERSTATE BEHAVIOUR ........................................ 83 HIGH INTEGRATION – THE STRUCTURAL VARIATIONS BEHIND A SECURITY COMMUNITY ............................................. 89 CHAPTER III. DEVELOPING A DEFENDABLE FRAMEWORK: THE PROCESSES BEHIND THE EMERGENCE OF A SECURITY COMMUNITY .............................................................................................................................. 95 THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS TO THE PROCESSES BEHIND SECURITY COMMUNITY FORMATION ......... 95 NORMS AND THE COLLECTIVE IDENTITY
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Southeast Asia Program 1982 Bulletin Cornell University
    Southeast Asia Program Cornell 1982 Bulletin University SEAP ARCHIVE COPY DO NOT REMOVE Southeast Asia Program Cornell 1982 Bulletin University Table of Contents From the Director . 2 Frank H. Golay Retires . IO Lauriston Sharp and Southeast Asian Studies About Program People . 11 at Cornell.... .. .. ..................... .. ....... 3 Faculty and Staff Notes . I I John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asia Faculty and Staff Publications .................. 11 Continues to Grow . 5 Visiting Fellows ............................... 12 Gamelan Performs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 6 Alumni News .................................. 12 John M. Echols, 1913-1982 ....................... 7 Graduate Students in Field Research ............ 12 Program Publications . 8 Recent Doctoral Dissertations .............. ... 12 1~ From the Director ,; Dear Friends, We are launching a new venture, a bulletin that we hope you will find interesting and useful. Whether you are a recent graduate or a longtime friend of the Southeast Asia Program, you will find that the Program is both much the same as you remember it and also a changing and varied academic venture. We thought you might welcome an annual publication that renews old ties while keeping you abreast of recent developments here in the library, graduate theses, faculty (both well-remembered and new), visiting fellows, and special programs and activities. In this first issue of the Bulletin, we have tried to anticipate the areas that might interest you most. We are hoping that you will let us have your reactions and suggestions. We hope, too, that you may wish to contribute to the Bulletin, so that among the large and impressive group of Southeast Asianists who have in one way or another been a part of the Cornell experience we will develop an active correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • Managing Ethnic Relations in Post-Crisis Malaysia and Indonesia Lessons from the New Economic Policy?
    Managing Ethnic Relations in Post-Crisis Malaysia and Indonesia Lessons from the New Economic Policy? Khoo Boo Teik Identities, Conflict and Cohesion United Nations Programme Paper Number 6 Research Institute August 2004 for Social Development This United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Programme Paper was written for the 2001 UNRISD International Conference on Racism and Public Policy. This conference was carried out with the support of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). UNRISD also thanks the governments of Den- mark, Finland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom for their core funding. Copyright © UNRISD. Short extracts from this publication may be reproduced unaltered without authorization on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. UNRISD welcomes such applications. The designations employed in UNRISD publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNRISD con- cerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for opinions expressed rests solely with the author(s), and publication does not constitute endorse- ment by UNRISD. ISSN 1020-8194 Contents Acronyms ii Glossary ii Acknowledgements
    [Show full text]
  • Southeast Asia Program
    SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM FALL • 1994 BULLETIN • 0 ,., SEAP ARCHIVE COPY ' DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear Friends, This has been a year of many changes in the Southeast Asia Program, some of them sad and others happy. First, the news that is both sad and happy. Randolph Barker's term as director came to an end, and I was elected to take his place as director. At the same time that Randy stepped down, Helen Swank retired. Many of us think of her affectionately as an institution coterminous with the Southeast Asia Program, and after thirty-three years it is hard to conceive of the office without her. Her place was taken by Nancy Stage. Nancy brings back home to Ithaca a range of experience in fund-raising and development from her previous work in Colorado. Helen is a hard act to follow, but Nancy's intelligence and sparkle keep the office an exciting and pleasant place to work or visit. We also had some losses among our faculty. We are sad to announce the passing of two of our most beloved colleagues, Lauriston Sharp and Milton Barnett. Both Lauri and Milt were active in the Southeast Asia Program until a short time before their deaths. Their careers and contributions to SEAP are outlined in the following pages. To honor Lauri, in 1975 we established the Lauriston Sharp Prize for the most outstanding thesis in Southeast Asian studies at Cornell. Winners of this prize have become top scholars in their fields and are active in universities throughout the country.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation Formatting
    IN THE NAME OF UTOPIA, THE CASE STUDY OF PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA’S PLANNED ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL By LEVU ‘VINCENT’ TRAN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 by Levu ‘Vincent’ Tran 2 To my wife Van-Anh; and to my sons, Dzuy and Khoi 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This master thesis is the result of over five years of work whereby I have been accompanied and supported by many people. It is a pleasant aspect that I have now the opportunity to express my gratitude for all of them who gave me the possibility to complete this research. My deepest thanks go to the Chair of my committee Dr. Joseli Macedo. Over the past five years, she provided me help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement in conducting research and the final writing of this thesis. At the same time, I would like to express my appreciation to the other members of my committee who monitored my work and took effort in reading and providing me with valuable comments. My special thanks go to Dr. Paul Zwick for his constant support and assistance. I also want to express my gratitude to all faculties and staffs of the Urban and Regional Planning department for mentoring me and assisting me during my time in the University of Florida. I would like to thank Mr. Roland Lau, my great Malaysian friend, who is always on my side whenever I am in his beloved country.
    [Show full text]
  • The Malinowski Award Papers
    The Dynamics of Applied Anthropology in the Twentieth Century: The Malinowski Award Papers Thomas Weaver Editor and Contributor of Introductory Materials Society for Applied Anthropology Oklahoma City 2002 ii Series Editor: Patricia J. Higgins, Plattsburgh State University Production Designer: Neil Hann, Society for Applied Anthropology, Oklahoma City Production Manager: J. Thomas May, Society for Applied Anthropology, Oklahoma City Copyright 2002 by the Society for Applied Anthropology All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted in any form or in any means without permission except in the context of reviews. All inquiries should be addressed to the Society for Applied Anthropology, P.O. Box 24093, Oklahoma City, 73124. Essays in chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29 were previously published in Human Organization. The essay in chapter 23 was previously published in The Future of Anthropology: Its Relevance to the Contemporary World, Akbar S. Ahmed and Cris N. Shore, eds. (London: Athlone, 1995). iii Contents vii Acknowledgements viii About the Editor 1 Chapter 1: The Malinowski Award and the History of Applied Anthropology Thomas Weaver 14 Chapter 2: Malinowski as Applied Anthropologist Thomas Weaver 34 Chapter 3: Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán: Applied Anthropology and Indigenous Policy Thomas Weaver 38 Applied Anthropology in Mexico Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán (Tucson 1973) 45 Chapter 4: Everett C. Hughes: Urban Sociology, Social Problems, and Ethics Thomas Weaver 48 Who Studies Whom? Everett C. Hughes (Boston 1974) 59 Chapter 5: Gunnar Myrdal: Interdisciplinary Research, Policy Science, and Racism Thomas Weaver 62 The Unity of the Social Sciences Gunnar Myrdal (Amsterdam 1975) 69 Chapter 6: Edward H.
    [Show full text]
  • Access Provided by University of Michigan @ Ann Arbor (21 Apr 2013 13:19 GMT) Notes
    Access provided by University of Michigan @ Ann Arbor (21 Apr 2013 13:19 GMT) Notes Introduction 1. Anek Laothamatas, “A Tale of Two Democracies: Conflicting Perceptions of Elections and Democracy in Thailand,” in The Politics of Elections in Southeast Asia, ed. R. H. Taylor (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1996). 2. “Red Rage Rising,” Bangkok Post, 13 March 2010. 3. Partha Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). 4. James C. Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1976), 1. 5. Eric R. Wolf, Peasants (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), 2–4; Teodor Shanin, “Introduction,” in Peasants and Peasant Societies, ed. Teodor Shanin (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971), 14–15. 6. Michael Kearney, Reconceptualizing the Peasantry: Anthropology in Global Per- spective (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1996), 141; Chris Baker, “Thailand’s Assem- bly of the Poor: Background, Drama, Reaction,” South East Asia Research 8, no. 1 (2000): 26. 7. Lucien M. Hanks, “Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order,” American Anthro- pologist 64, no. 6 (1962); Lucien M. Hanks, “The Thai Social Order as Entourage and Circle,” in Change and Persistence in Thai Society: Essays in Honor of Lauriston Sharp, ed. G. William Skinner and A. Thomas Kirsch (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1975). 8. Lauriston Sharp and Lucien M. Hanks, Bang Chan: Social History of a Rural Community in Thailand (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1978), 46. 9.
    [Show full text]
  • V. King the Sociology of South-East Asia; a Critical Review of Some Concepts and Issues
    V. King The sociology of South-East Asia; A critical review of some concepts and issues In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 150 (1994), no: 1, Leiden, 171-206 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com10/05/2021 10:27:07AM via free access STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEWS VICTOR T. KING The Sociology of South-East Asia A Critical Review of Some Concepts and Issues* In the field of South-East Asian Studies, as in other area studies programmes, we usually examine the realities of the region under study from our different disciplinary perspectives, though, wherever possible, we use interdisciplinary approaches as well. The study of South-East Asia has generated some quite remarkable scholarly contributions in certain I wish to acknowledge the helpful comments of the two anonymous referees of this paper. I have duly followed some of their constructive criticisms and made revisions as well as included additional information and discussion. I hope that I have responded to their main observation; this tumed on the issue of which authors and literature should be covered in a review of this kind. In any review in article form it is difficult to be comprehensive and it has been impossible to consider the substantial literature in applied sociology and the sociology of rural development. This must be the subject of a separate paper on which I am presently engaged. It was also feit that my initial paper gave too much emphasis to English-language publications written by Western observers to the neglect of publications in other European languages and more especially writings by South-East Asians in both English and local languages.
    [Show full text]
  • Lauriston Sharp
    1358 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES LAURISTON SHARP (1907-1993) Lauriston Sharp, Goldwin Smith Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies Emeritus at Cornell University, died at the age of 86 at his Ithaca, New York, home on December 31, 1993. He was born in 1907 in Madison, where his father was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. While majoring in philosophy at Wisconsin, Sharp went on several summer treks to archaeological sites in Arizona and Utah, and these encounters led him to prefer the concrete, culturally informed anthropologist's view of human nature to the more abstract, universalizing view of the philosopher. After receiving his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 1929, Sharp chose anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies as career goals. He encountered Berber culture while on a 1930 Beloit-Logan Museum archaeological expedition to Algeria. He then studied Southeast Asian Ethnology in Vienna with Robert Heine-Geldern, receiving the Certificate in Anthropology from the University of Vienna in 1931. He entered the doctoral program at Harvard University in 1932 and received his Ph.D. in 1937, after two years of fieldwork among Australian aborigines. Professor Sharp began teaching at Cornell in 1936 as that university's first appointment in anthropology. Devoted to Cornell, he taught at, and remained connected with the university for fifty-six years. He remained active as the Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus, even after his retirement in 1973. During an interlude at the State Department in 1945 and 1946, Sharp served as Assistant Division Chief for Southeast Asian Affairs.
    [Show full text]
  • Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (Asw 2020)
    AMANAH SAHAM NASIONAL BERHAD (47457-V) A Company incorporated with limited liability in Malaysia, under the Companies Act, 1965, a wholly-owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad AMANAH SAHAM WAWASAN 2020 (“ASW 2020”) PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS SHEET DATE OF ISSUANCE: 13 JULY 2018 RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT This Product Highlights Sheet has been reviewed and approved by the directors and/or authorised committee and/or persons approved by the Board of Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad and they have collectively and individually accepted full responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Having made all reasonable inquiries, they confirm to the best of their knowledge and belief, that there are no false or misleading statements or omissions of other facts which would make any statement in the Product Highlights Sheet false or misleading. STATEMENT OF DISCLAIMER The Securities Commission Malaysia has authorised/recognised the issuance of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 and a copy of this Product Highlights Sheet has been lodged with the Securities Commission Malaysia. The authorisation of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 and lodgement of this Product Highlights Sheet, should not be taken to indicate that the Securities Commission Malaysia recommends Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 or assumes responsibility for the correctness of any statement made or opinion or report expressed in this Product Highl ights Sheet The Securities Commission Malaysia is not liable for any non-disclosure on the part of Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad responsible for Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 and takes no responsibility for the contents of this Product Highlights Sheet. The Securities Commission Malaysia makes no representation on the accuracy or completeness of this Product Highlights Sheet, and expressly disclaims any liability whatsoever arising from, or in reliance upon, the whole or any part of its contents.
    [Show full text]
  • Intellectual Roots of Key Anthropologists
    SELECTIONS FROM ASSESSING CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Robert Borofsky, editor (1994) New York: McGraw-Hill FREDRIK BARTH is currently Research Fellow under the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Professor of Anthropology at Emory University. He has previously taught at the universities of Oslo and Bergen, and as a visitor at various American departments of anthropology. He has carried out research in a number of areas, starting in the Middle East with a focus on tribal politics and ecology. His best known works from this period are: Political Leadership among Swat Pathans (1959), Nomads of South Persia (1961), Models of Social Organization (1964), and the edited work Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (1969). Later, he has also done fieldwork in New Guinea and Southeast Asia, and among his publications are Ritual and Knowledge among the Baktaman of New Guinea (1975) and Cosmologies in the Making (1987). A monograph entitled Balinese Worlds will appear in 1993. "After a wartime childhood in Norway, I started at the University of Chicago with an interest in paleontology and human evolution. But the active and rich teaching program of Fred Eggan, Sol Tax, Robert Redfield and others broadened my intellectual horizon and led, after an interlude on a dig in Iraq with Bob Braidwood, to my choice of social anthropology as the focus of my work. My foundations derived indirectly from Radcliffe-Brown, who had taught my teachers during the 1930s. "Like many of my Chicago cohort, I went on to further studies in England. I chose the L.S.E. Autobiographies: 2 and developed a life-long association with Raymond Firth and, even more importantly, with Edmund Leach, whom I later followed to Cambridge for my Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • The State of the 'State' in Globalization: Social Order and Economic
    Third WorldQuarterly, Vol21, No 6, pp 103 5 – 1057, 2000 Thestate o fthe‘ state’in globalization:social order and economicrestructuring in Malaysia CHRISTINEB NCHIN ABSTRACT This article asserts that,instead of anticipatingor searchingfor indications of the ‘endof the state’in anera of neoliberal globalization,it is morefruitful to examinethe relationship betweenthe state andsocial order, becauseof the potential to discern the conditionsand consequences in which occurthe ruling elite’s andsocial forces’resistance to and/or alliance with, transnationalcapital. A case study of Malaysiais presented to demonstratethe complexand even contradictory ways in whichsocial order is regulatedthat allows the state to managedemands emanating within andbeyond the country. Specically, the analysis focuses onthe different historical junctures in which changingbases of state power,paths of development,and of cial manipulation of social identities convergein the regulationof social order that facilitates capital accumulationwhile maintainingstate legitimacy in amulti-ethnic con- text. Thepromotion of economic deregulation, privatization andliberalization policies throughoutdi fferent regionsof the worldin the last twodecades of the twentieth centurysignalled neoliberalism’s ascendancein shapingthe latest phaseof globalization,or the realization ofthe world-as-a-whole.Driven by neoliberal mantras suchas efciency, productivity and transparency, mutually constitutive changesin the productionprocess andinnovations in newcommunication technologiesappeared radically to underminestate controlof the movementof capital andpeople across national borders.Consequently, some observerscame to anticipate the ‘globalvillage’ or the ‘endof the state’as asignicant outcome ofthe emergingglobal capitalist order. 1 At the beginningof the twenty-rst century,however, what is clear is that anticipation ofthe state’s demise is premature.Intellectual inquiry,instead, has examinedwhy and how the state is beingtransformed rather thanrendered obsolete bythe processes ofeconomic restructuring.
    [Show full text]
  • Wawasan 2020: at the End of the Day Even Art Is Not Important
    Y A O S O U C H O U Wawasan 2020: At the End of the Day Even Art is Not Important l d ı v a n_8 The attempt was as banal as it was futile: another effort by the Malaysian authorities to impose censorship upon an artist. Over several decades, Ahmad Fuad Osman’s art practice has dealt with ethnic identity, national memory and particularly, government abuse of power. Acclaimed as one of the most prominent artists working in Malaysia today, his engaging and sophisticated art has been exhibited recently at the 2016 Singapore Biennale: An Atlas of Mirrors and the 2019 Sharjah Biennial: Leaving the Echo Chamber. Malaysia was ready to acknowledge the achievements of one of its proud sons when the Balai Seni Negara (National Art Gallery of Malaysia) gave him a mid-career exhibition in October 2019, which he ironically titled At the End of the Day Even Art is Not Important (1990-2019). The exhibition consisted of a variety of media—painting, installation and photography, selected and approved by the Bali. On 21 January, 2020, three months into the exhibition, Osman was informed that four of his works would be withdrawn following a complaint from a Gallery Board member. The works in question were Untitled (2012), posters of Anwar Ibrahim with a black eye, a reference to his assault by the Inspector General of Police while in detention before his sodomy trial in 1988; Dreaming of Being A Somebody Afraid of Being A Nobody (2019), portraits of Mohamed Azmin, Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim, key figures in the struggle for power that led to the collapse of the reformist government that came to power after the 2018 general election; Imitating the Mountain (2004), a painting of a naked man lying on his back against the backdrop of a mountain, and Mak Bapak Borek, Anak Cucu Cicit Pun Rintik (2015-18), an installation of overweight white ceramic pigs sited before a gold-plated rock.
    [Show full text]